Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities concludes eleventh session

ROUNDUP

11 April 2014

Adopts Concluding Observations and Recommendations on Reports of Azerbaijan, Costa Rica and Sweden

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities today concluded its eleventh session after adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Azerbaijan, Costa Rica and Sweden on how these States parties implement the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

In addition to considering the reports of these three countries, the Committee also adopted its general comment on Article 12 of the Convention, on legal capacity, and its general comment on Article 9 of the Convention, on accessibility. Complaints submitted under the Optional Protocol to the Convention and the conduct of inquiries was also considered by the Committee. The Committee also met with United Nations agencies with membership in the Inter-agency Support Group of the Convention and discussed ways forward to mainstream disability rights in the post-2015 development agenda.

The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Azerbaijan, Costa Rica and Sweden will be available on the Committee’s webpagestarting noon on Monday, 14 April.Jorge Araya, secretary of the Committee, at the closing meeting read out the decisions taken by the Committee during the session, including that the Committee welcomed the resolution adopted by the General Assembly on the treaty body strengthening process; decided on the dates of upcoming sessions; confirmed the appointment of country rapporteurs for the future consideration of country reports; adopted the Committee’s first two general comments; adopted guidelines on a general comment on girls and women with disabilities, and guidelines on the participated of persons with disabilities in the work of the Committee; adopted a decision on the conduct of inquiries; adopted amendments to the Committee’s rules of procedure; and decided to hold during its thirteenth session in April 2015 a day of general discussion on articles 19 and 24 of the Convention and decided to prepare general comments on those two articles on living independently and being included in the community, and on education, respectively.The twelfth session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be held from 15 September to 3 October, during which it will consider the reports of Belgium, Denmark, Ecuador, Mexico, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea._________